Korea Box Office: ‘12.12: The Day’ Brings Crowds Back to Cinemas

Korean drama “12.12: The Day” brought life back to South Korean cinemas with a powerful $11 million opening weekend.

Directed by Kim Sung-soo and starring the reliable Hwang Jung-min and Jung Woo-sung, the film recounts a nine-hour period in 1979 in which a military coup was attempted. It is understood to be based on real events, but with a fictional telling.

It earned $11.2 million between Friday and Sunday accounting for four out of every five tickets sold in the country. Over its five-day opening run it earned $14.1 million.

That is the second highest opening by any film this year, behind only summer hit “The Roundup: No Way Out” and it is expected to achieve two million ticket sales on Monday.

The strong performance lifted the overall box office for the weekend back above $10 million for the first time since the Chuseok holiday in late September and only the second time since the summer. Nationwide box office was $14.2 million.

“Five Nights at Freddy’s,” which had topped the chart a week earlier, was relegated to a distant second place. It earned $1.21 million for a 12-day cumulative of $4.20 million.

“The Boy and the Heron added $257,000 over the weekend to build a cumulative of $14.6 million. The Miyazaki Hayao-directed title was released five weeks ago and enjoyed two weekends at the top of the chart.

U.S. animation “Arctic Justice” was the second highest new release title of the latest weekend. It opened in fourth place with $236,000 over the weekend and $298,000 over five days.

“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” slipped down to sixth place in its second weekend of release in Korea earning $132,000. It has a tiny $1.28 million cumulative total.

Released two weeks ago, “The Marvels” earned $130,000 for a cumulative of $5.37 million since Nov. 8.